Norovirus outbreak at Athens' Attikon hospital sparks alarm as staff union blames chronic overcrowding and understaffing

An outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by norovirus has been confirmed at the University General Hospital "Attikon" in Haidari, western Athens, triggering alarm among staff and patients. The hospital workers' union first raised the alert on Thursday, 28 May 2026, reporting at least 25 cases among healthcare workers and dozens more among patients and their companions.

Scale of the outbreak

According to the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers (POEDIN), the outbreak began in the neurosurgery clinic on 21 May. By 26 May, a total of 53 suspected cases had been recorded among both staff and patients. Of these, 9 have been laboratory-confirmed as norovirus — 5 patients and 4 staff members. The remaining cases are either under investigation or have returned negative results. The hospital's governor, Spyros Apostolopoulos, stated that the phenomenon, which started with 24 recorded cases, is steadily declining.

The phenomenon, which started with 24 recorded cases of gastroenteritis, is steadily declining.

Containment measures

In cooperation with the National Public Health Organization (EODY), all necessary prevention protocols are being applied. These include isolating affected patients, granting leave to employees showing suspicious symptoms, and carrying out disinfection procedures. A hospital-acquired infection prevention committee, led by professors Tsiodras and Pournaras, has been established and is continuously evaluating the situation. POEDIN has stressed that no patient is at risk and no staff member has required hospitalisation, with the hospital continuing to operate normally.

No patient is at risk and no staff member has required hospitalisation. The hospital is operating normally.

Union blames systemic failures

The Workers' Union of P.G.N. "Attikon" has strongly disputed the characterisation of the outbreak as a simple "incident," arguing it is inseparable from the hospital's overall condition. The union has warned for 13 years that a hospital permanently operating beyond its limits — with corridors full of stretchers, patients crammed together including surgical, immunosuppressed, seriously ill, and elderly individuals, and staff running to cover multiple posts — cannot guarantee basic safe hospitalisation conditions.

How will it stop when patients are on stretchers and don't even have a toilet?

The union has called on the Minister of Health, the Deputy Minister, and the hospital administration to abolish the use of stretchers at Attikon, and has questioned how isolation measures, movement restrictions, separate toilet use, and strict hygiene can be implemented when dozens of patients are being treated on stretchers in corridors without basic infrastructure. The union also revealed it filed a lawsuit six months ago and is calling for prosecutorial intervention.

Broader context

POEDIN highlighted that this is not a problem unique to Attikon but affects all major hospitals in Athens, Thessaloniki, and regional Greece. The federation stated that the development of stretcher use, the treatment of patients — especially those with pathological problems — in invasive clinics, and chronic understaffing have given Greece the "sad first place" in hospital-acquired infections among European Union countries. EODY specialists, however, noted that such outbreaks are a very common situation in hospitals internationally and across Europe, and that the application of prescribed protocols makes them entirely manageable.